Anaheim's Platinum Triangle is kind of ... ghostly

Dec. 13, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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The Stadium Lofts courtyard. The community is catty-corner to Angel Stadium. JOSHUA SUDOCK, FILE PHOTO

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The Catch, a mainstay restaurant that use to rest on State College Boulevard (across from Angel Stadium), closed for a year to make way for Platinum Triangle development. It reopened at a new location on Katella Avenue around the corner from the old one. JOSHUA SUDOCK, FILE PHOTO

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Homebuyers line up after camping out outside Stadium Lofts, across from Angel Stadium, for a one-day sales event in 2009. KEN STEINHARDT, FILE PHOTO

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City of Anaheim proposed plans for future development in the Platinum Triangle, including the Grand Parkway which connects the Triangle to the (Disney) Anaheim Resort area. FILE PHOTO

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ANAHEIM – Darin Garrett moved into the Stadium Lofts four years ago, buying in on the ground floor of the Platinum Triangle – a vision for Anaheim that he expected would spring up all around him.

A lifelong Angels fan, he was excited by the prospect of walking to games at the stadium just on the other side of Katella Avenue.

The walking in Platinum Triangle appealed to him most. He loved the idea of wandering downstairs to the El Torito Grille to grab a bite. To traipse across to the gym. And to walk to the market that was sure to come.

"I looked at the plans for A-Town across the street from my loft and thought, 'Man, look at all those offices planned there. Maybe I can even find a job I can walk to,'" Garrett remembered.

Instead, four years later, El Torito has shut down, the gym close its doors, the market never opened and A-Town is dirt with no sign of construction.

"It does sound kind of grim when you put it all together like that," said Garrett, 38, a designer for an architectural firm. "But I get why it's like that. None of us saw the (economic) crash coming. And nobody's building anywhere."

This year, the City Council has approved several requests by developers to reduce the size of developments and delay construction.

By now, Platinum Triangle was supposed to be largely built with towering structures redefining the skyline around Angel Stadium – with some planned for 20-plus stories.

The 820-acre Platinum Triangle was approved in 2004 as a downtown-like mix of condos, cafes and shops. It has been approved for up to 18,909 residential units, 4.9 million square feet of commercial space, and 14.3 million square feet of office space.

So far, it has 1,900 residential units, 38,000 square feet of commercial space and no new offices.

Stadium Lofts initially sold as condominiums – eventually at deeply discounted rates. But most of the loft spaces that have opened up since have converted to apartments.

From the beginning, critics charged that the Platinum Triangle was overly ambitious and an East Coast style of living that wouldn't fly in Southern California, where people aren't accustomed to living in dense housing and instead rely on their cars.

The lack of construction doesn't signal that Platinum Triangle was a bad idea – only that it is a "dream delayed" by the slowdown in construction, said Sheri Vander Dussen, Anaheim's planning director.

As Anaheim's population grows, the Platinum Triangle will grow, too, Vander Dussen said.

In the meantime, living in an area that is not-so-densely populated has its advantages, Garrett said as he sipped a drink on an otherwise deserted patio outside Kelly's Coffee, taking a break from walking his dog.

"Right now, sometimes it feels like I've got the place to myself," he said.

Sheri Vander Dussen, Anaheim Planning Director

Q. Why have the high-rises originally planned not been built?

A. When people can live in a single-family house for less than what it costs to live in a high-rise, (buyers) aren't willing to make that investment. We didn't anticipate the economy going the way that it did.

Q. Critics have charged that the concept was overly ambitious. Was it?

A. When you look at the population growth that's anticipated over the next 20 years, Anaheim is expected to continue to grow. Those people will need a place to live. And one option for us is this kind of high-density housing.

Q. What do you envision the Platinum Triangle will look like in20 years?

A. For now, I'd much rather see the vacant lots that are out there than unfinished projects that have been abandoned. I believe this is a dream delayed.

Cynthia Ward, longtime Anaheim resident and activist

Q. You've expressed concerns from early on about Platinum Triangle. Why do you think it's a flawed concept?

A. It's just extremely high density without proper infrastructure. I don't see why people want to live like that here.

Q. Planners say it's not a problem with the concept, it's the unexpected economic crash that has slowed progress there. What do you think?

A. I dispute that. I think it was an overly ambitious plan that too quickly tore down buildings and completely took offline places that were generating money for the city.

Q. What do you envision there in 20 years?

A. Look, I hope what they envision for Platinum Triangle does come true – and that it doesn't take twodecades.

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